Rum inventory! - Tiki Drinks and Food

A aquarj Tiki Socialite SF bay area, CA Joined: Apr 02, 2002 Posts: 1125	A aquarj Posted posted on Wed, Jun 15, 2011 1:52 PM On 2011-06-15 12:30, jokeiii wrote: For reasons well outside the scope of this post, I prefer to not purchase anything from Cuba. It may be a bit of blasphemy to international rum lovers, but personally I think any bar can do just fine WITHOUT Cuban rum. I confess I was all giddy from the forbidden fruit factor when I got to try some Cuban rum, but overall I think it's overrated. With the biggest exception being Santiago de Cuba 20yr which I really liked, most seemed unexceptional, with as-good-or-better cousins available from the Dominican Republic. There are actually a lot of people who share the opinion that Havana Club 15yr isn't that great as a sipping rum (despite its price!!), and tastes kinda medicinal. Varadero has a 15yr offering too, which I thought was better than HC, but still actually more industrial tasting (sorry, my best description) than some of the best Dominican rums. My theory is that some Cuban rums go extremely well as mixers for some of the famous cocktails they're associated with, but their aged variants don't translate so well as sippers. And at the same time, there are some really good light rums these days from other countries that compete very well with the Cuban rums' flavor for mixing. So honestly I don't think we're really missing that much in the states. Without getting too close to the political issues involved, I guess the story goes that several of the families making Cuba's great pre-Castro rums took their formulas with them when their operations were "appropriated". So they relocated to the Dominican Republic (ie, Oliver & Oliver, Matusalem) or Puerto Rico (Bacardi obviously), and either continued the business or resumed some years later. Bacardi has its own story, but as for the other operations, many of their products still make reference to "Cuban style" or "Cuban formula" or even outright names like Cubaney or Conde de Cuba. But many also do have a similar or better flavor. I don't mean this as a political comment, but the impression I had is that the Cuban rums lost some of their diversity and character once they fell under state control. It may be why modern Cuban rums don't seem to live up to the romantic appeal that's been associated with them since way before the "revolution". Speaking of borderline political stuff, I keep wondering if Venezuela's going to go off the deep end some day, triggering a US embargo. Fans of Diplomatico, Pampero, and Santa Teresa would have to stock up if so! -Randy

On 2011-06-15 12:30, jokeiii wrote:

For reasons well outside the scope of this post, I prefer to not purchase anything from Cuba.

It may be a bit of blasphemy to international rum lovers, but personally I think any bar can do just fine WITHOUT Cuban rum.

I confess I was all giddy from the forbidden fruit factor when I got to try some Cuban rum, but overall I think it's overrated. With the biggest exception being Santiago de Cuba 20yr which I really liked, most seemed unexceptional, with as-good-or-better cousins available from the Dominican Republic. There are actually a lot of people who share the opinion that Havana Club 15yr isn't that great as a sipping rum (despite its price!!), and tastes kinda medicinal. Varadero has a 15yr offering too, which I thought was better than HC, but still actually more industrial tasting (sorry, my best description) than some of the best Dominican rums.

My theory is that some Cuban rums go extremely well as mixers for some of the famous cocktails they're associated with, but their aged variants don't translate so well as sippers. And at the same time, there are some really good light rums these days from other countries that compete very well with the Cuban rums' flavor for mixing. So honestly I don't think we're really missing that much in the states.

Without getting too close to the political issues involved, I guess the story goes that several of the families making Cuba's great pre-Castro rums took their formulas with them when their operations were "appropriated". So they relocated to the Dominican Republic (ie, Oliver & Oliver, Matusalem) or Puerto Rico (Bacardi obviously), and either continued the business or resumed some years later. Bacardi has its own story, but as for the other operations, many of their products still make reference to "Cuban style" or "Cuban formula" or even outright names like Cubaney or Conde de Cuba. But many also do have a similar or better flavor. I don't mean this as a political comment, but the impression I had is that the Cuban rums lost some of their diversity and character once they fell under state control. It may be why modern Cuban rums don't seem to live up to the romantic appeal that's been associated with them since way before the "revolution".

Speaking of borderline political stuff, I keep wondering if Venezuela's going to go off the deep end some day, triggering a US embargo. Fans of Diplomatico, Pampero, and Santa Teresa would have to stock up if so!

-Randy

Post #593795 by aquarj on Wed, Jun 15, 2011 1:52 PM